Change
by OwlinAMinor
Summary: The Capitol sends Katniss, Haymitch, and co. some horrible photos of Peeta in prison, being tortured.  They respond . . . with a music video that plants the entire county in turmoil.  Songfic one-shot on Change by Taylor Swift. R&R!


**CHANGE**

**This is a Hunger Games song fic based after ****Catching Fire**** on the song Change by Taylor Swift.**

**The Capitol sends Katniss, Haymitch, and co. some horrible photos of Peeta in prison, being tortured. They respond . . . with a music video that plants the entire county in turmoil.**

**Please, please don't ignore just because you don't like Taylor Swift! There is much more to this fic than the song!**

**It isn't really Team Gale or Team Peeta – there are hints of both, but that isn't the point of this fic; it's more political.**

**DISCLAIMER: Do I look like an evil cliffhanger-writer or a beautiful country singer to you? No. Duh. So I'm not Suzanne Collins or Taylor Swift, and I don't own the Hunger Games or Change (but I will soon! The papers are almost finished!) (Although I DO own Naglene.)**

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* * *

**

"The video is in."

"Good."

"On air in five . . ."

". . . four . . ."

". . . three . . ."

". . . two . . ."

". . . one . . ."

". . . and it's . . . live to all Panem! Oh yeah! Woo!"

"Come on guys, let's split." Haymitch could almost feel the indignation radiating through the crackling static of the walkie-talkie earpiece he was wearing.

"Oh yeah, and girls. Sorry, ladies," he added, re-opening the air duct of the room he had been hiding in and squeezing though, latching the screen behind him and commencing to crawl through the tunnels.

"Shut up, Haymitch," hissed another voice. This one was smooth, rich, pampered, and very masculine . . . the voice of Finnick Adair.

"We're on a top secret mission to institute a rebellion. This is NOT the time to be . . . to be . . . um . . ." he trailed off.

"Kissing up to the pretty girls?" suggested a girl's voice. Not Katniss, but Katniss's friend Naglene. Naglene had been chosen by the leaders of District Thirteen to help the refugees on their mission to rid Panem of Captain Snow and the rest of the corrupted government of the Capitol. Nobody wanted to anger the Capitol more than District Thirteen, and nobody in District Thirteen wanted to anger the Capitol more than Naglene Sturnet. Her parents, two older brothers, and little sister had all been shot by Capitol agents. The tiny, doll-faced, twenty-one-year-old blond girl would do anything to 'bring the Capitol to its lying, scummy, lame-excuse-for-dog-poo knees' as she so aptly put it. **(A/N: I always imagine her saying that with a British accent, dunno why. :D BTW in case you haven't figured it out yet, her name is pronounced Nag-LEEN.)**

Katniss could be heard giggling. "Good one, Nag!"

Then Gale's husky, low voice spoke, "The only pretty one I know is you, Catnip."

"What about me?" Naglene asked, feigning hurt.

Gale sighed. "Fine, you too. But Katniss is prettier."

Katniss was still giggling insanely. _So out of character for her ever since Peeta was captured,_ Haymitch pondered. _Probably the nostalgia of a successful mission was messing with her brain._

"Quiet, everyone! We're not out of the woods yet!"

"But Haymitch, we're not in the –"

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

_While the fearsome fivesome crawled through cramped, creaky, sticky metal air pipes, a video was rolling on live TV to all of Panem._

In the hard drive of the main computer of the Capitol's broadcasting system was a flash drive, duck taped into the computer's networks so it couldn't be stopped.

That afternoon, in the middle of a live broadcast, required viewing to the entire country of Panem, about the rebellion . . . the screen suddenly faded to black. Then it flashed red and began to crackle. The crackling slowly took shape until it formed a blurry black-and-white video.

On this video, the opening guitar chords were playing.

The song: Change, by Taylor Swift.

The place: outside of Katniss's cabin by the lake

The people: Haymitch on drums, Finnick on bass, Naglene on guitar, Katniss and Gale singing, and Effie taping.

* * *

_They had found the music in the cabin._ The government of District Thirteen didn't want to endanger themselves too much, so they stuck the refugees in the old cabin. They took in most of District Twelve, but didn't want the most wanted rebels near them. The only exceptions were Mrs. Everdeen and Prim, who Katniss blatantly refused to have anywhere but safe, protected, District Thirteen. About this time, a package arrived for Katniss, dropped in the middle of the woods not far from where she had been hunting by means of a helicopter that (to Katniss's annoyance) scared off all the prey.

Inside the package were pictures. Of Peeta. Being tortured.

That put everyone in a _wonderful_ mood. Just peachy. (Not the sarcasm). Especially Katniss.

And when you're more bored than an ant trapped in a tiny cardboard box and more angry than a swan whose chicks just got murdered . . . well, let's just say that's not the best combination.

So, for lack of anything better to do, Katniss started digging through the back of the cabin, where she had never looked before.

In the very back, buried beneath mounds of boxes, dust, grime, and unidentifiable junk was a dirty white laptop, CD, pile of sheet music, electric guitar, bass guitar, amp, video camera, and microphone along with various fraying cords in all shapes and sizes. The cracked, faded CD was missing its case, but everything else, although filthy, was still intact.

Katniss had grabbed the other two girls and three guys, popped the CD into the laptop (it had been on sleep mode, and awakened with a BING when she rubbed the mouse pad), and hit "Shuffle", the first button she saw.

"Change" read the screen.

"We could certainly use some of that around here," remarked Naglene.

That was when the music video began to play out of the laptop's speakers and dusty lint-covered screen . . . and everyone's mouths dropped to their feet, their eyes bulging.

All the small band of rebels could do was stare until the music video ended, until the laptop crashed for lack of battery power.

Gale was the first to find his voice.

"Well . . . we want to tell the Capitol we mean business . . . and make them mad . . . and tell the rest of the country about it . . . right?" he asked slowly.

Four heads nodded cautiously, unsure of what was coming next.

Katniss, however, simply grinned. She knew Gale so well, she could tell what his idea would be.

"I think I know how we can do it," they said together.

* * *

_Now, as the entire nation watched, the Katniss-on-screen strode up to one of two microphones in the center of the screen._ Next to her were Naglene and Finnick, and behind her was Haymitch.

Katniss tossed back her long, loose, shiny dark hair and took up a confident stance even though her clothes were ragged and torn, the same ones she had been wearing since the start of the 75th Hunger Games.

Her mockingjay pin gleamed brightly on her chest.

She began to sing, her voice high and clear like an angel's, swaying in time to the music.

"_Oh it's a side picture_

_The final blow hits you_

_Somebody else gets what _

_You wanted, it can't end"_

Gale sauntered up next to her at the other mic. His voice, surprisingly, seemed like it was made for singing, all its huskiness and harshness dissipating.

"**You know it's all the same**

**Another time and place**

**Repeating history **

**And you're getting sick of it"**

**(A/N: From now on, if Katniss is singing the words will be in italics, if Gale is singing the words will be in bold, and if they're both singing in unison the words will be in bold italics. Kapeesh?)**

Katniss ripped her mic off its stand and leaned back as she sang.

"_But I believe in whatever you do_

_And I'll do anything to see it through_

_Because these things will change_

_Can feel it now_

_These walls that they put up to hold us back_

_Will fall down"_

"**This revolution**

**The time will come**

**For us to finally win"**

Both threw their arms out wide . . .

"_**And we'll sing hallelujah-a-a-a**_

_**We'll sing hallelujah-a-a-uh-a-oh-woah"**_

There was a small interlude, then Katniss slowly dropped to the floor as she sang . . .

"_So we've been outnumbered_

_Rated and out cornered_

_It's hard to fight _

_When the fight ain't fair"_

Gale reached out a hand to Katniss and pulled her back up . . .

"**We're getting stronger now**

**Found things they never found"**

"_They might be bigger_

_But we're faster and never scared"_

Still holding hands, the two singers turned to face each other and raised their arms up . . .

"**You can walk away, say we don't need this"**

"_But there's something in your eyes, says we can beat this"_

"**Cause these things will change**

**Can feel it now**

**These walls that they put up to hold us back**

**Will fall down"**

"_This revolution_

_The time will come_

_For us to finally win"_

Both threw their arms out wide, once again facing the camera . . .

"_**And we'll sing hallelujah-a-a-a**_

_**We'll sing hallelujah-a-a-uh-a-oh-woah"**_

Next there was a guitar solo by Naglene, to which Katniss bounced excitedly and pumped her fists, while Gale stood in front of his mic slightly awkwardly, not totally sure what to do. Finally, fists at their sides, the singers once again faced their microphones . . .

"_And tonight we'll stand_

_With our armies"_

"**Fight for what we've**

**Worked for all these years"**

"_And the battle was long_

_It's the fight of our lives"_

"**But we'll stand up"**

And they threw their arms up above their heads . . .

"_**Champions tonight"**_

As the music quieted to the slightest of drum beats, Katniss dropped to a sitting position, with her head on her knees, Gale squatting behind her . . .

"_It'll be the night things change_

_Can see it now_

_These walls that they put up to hold us back_

_Will fall down"_

The music surged, and Gale swung Katniss onto his shoulders, her holding her arms in a victory V as they sang together . . . They had changed the lyrics in this part slightly from the past tense to the future tense, so as not to jinx their chances of actual victory.

"_**This revolution**_

_**Throw your hands up**_

_**Cause we'll never give in**_

_**And we'll sing hallelujah-a-a-a**_

_**We'll sing hallelujah-a-a-uh-a"**_

"_Hallelujah-a-a-oh-oh-oh-oh-yeah!"_

Katniss leaped off Gale's shoulders and strode forward, not at all breathless, as her last birdlike notes faded into Naglene's final guitar melody, accompanied by Haymitch and Finnick. A new light was in her eyes, one that could burn the entire Capitol with a single glance. She glared defiantly out of the screens of every TV in Panem.

Strongly, she spoke:

"People of Panem: You are the armies. You are the ones who will make it change. The revolution has started, and once it starts, there is nothing else but to win.

"To win, to take back our food, our money, our government, our luxuries, our children that the Capitol steal from us and abuse year after painful year.

"We will not stand for this.

"Things will change.

"I stand here before you as your mockingjay, not as your symbol or your figurehead or your leader, but as one of you. I have been mistreated, just like you have.

"And I'm not about to forget it.

"The Capitol will rue the day it took our children!

"Are you with me?" the girl who was on fire roared.

She then turned around and, hands joined with Gale, walked out of the area visible by the camera as Haymitch played the very last drum roll.

* * *

_Reactions to the video were . . . interesting, to say the least._

_

* * *

_

_District One was furious._ Rotten tomatoes that had been fished out of enormous trash heaps behind buildings crashed onto the screen where Katniss had been standing moments before with deadly accuracy. An angry roar, similar to that of a bear who has been awakened from hibernation a little too early, reverberated around the glittering main square of the jewel district. District One had all they wanted. They were the Capitol's favorites, they got privileges, and they liked it.

The traitorous rebel girl calling herself their mockingjay – she was going to change all that.

For the worse.

Not the best news for a bunch of selfish, spoiled scumbags.

* * *

_District Two was glaring._ District One may have their inhuman roars and their rotten tomatoes, but the piercing eyes of District Two could do more damage than a thousand lightning bolts. One may take their Capitol rewards for granted, but the fighters of Two were the best, the bloodiest, and the most merciless. Their rewards came from hard work and brutal torture.

If this unworthy, stuck-up little girl destroyed their Capitol, their patron . . .

Well, let's just say that a knife in your enemy's back is a simple, efficient, and glorious way to get what you want.

* * *

_District Three was terrified._ They were used to staying low, dodging bullets, taking refuge behind their Career neighbors. Three didn't like to draw attention to themselves. They were smart, perhaps the smartest of all the Districts. They knew that when you wait, bide your time, and don't get punished, any and every government will eventually become so corrupt and ill-run that it will destroy itself without any outside influence.

That idiotic, impatient, ignorant girl wasn't going to wait.

And the people of District Three knew that she was going to bring the ax handle of the master executioner of the Capitol down on them all.

* * *

_The non-believing silence in District Four was broken by a single, bloodcurdling scream. _It seemed to last an eternity as it bounced off people, tridents, nets, houses, and anything else that dared to stand in its path. The scream had initiated from a tall, wild-eyed, jerky, messy-haired, crazy-looking brunette.

Her name was Annie.

The rest of her District stared at her. They were too shocked by Katniss's video to form coherent thoughts. How, where, _why_ did she find the courage to make that speech? She must have known that she would die for it.

The peaceful fishermen of Four wanted no part of a rebellion.

But Annie had screamed.

Not for Katniss, for the rebels, for her family, or for the Capitol . . . but here eyes had caught Finnick Odair on the screen, and if she knew one thing for sure, she knew that for what he and done, he would die. And for him, she would die too.

* * *

_District Five was pompous._ Five used to be a Career, Five used to be the greatest of them all, Five used to _win_, but nobody remembered that. Except Five itself.

"Take down the Capitol? Hmph. We could do better with our hands tied behind our backs."

Drilled into the citizens of Five was the idea that someday soon, Five would take back its previous glory . . . they weren't sure exactly how, but they would do it.

The Girl on Fire was giving them a road to success.

They would help her, giver her strength, her best plans, her openings, her warriors.

But once she won, they would take it all.

They would be the best of the best.

They knew they could do it . . . District Five always had been more pompous than a champion in his victory lap.

* * *

_District Six was impressed._ The middle is always overlooked – the first and the last are the ones who get the glory. Six's tributes were among the first to die, year after painful year. They despised it, but what could they do? Nobody noticed Six.

Katniss Everdeen had a plan.

It might just work in their favor.

Even now, much later, it is unknown who was the first to clap. But whoever started it, the slow drumbeat crescendoed into a deafening roar, a screaming cacophony of noise.

Appreciative noise.

Six was going to follow this seventeen-year-old girl who had come out of nowhere and given them a better route than they could have come up with themselves.

Impressive.

* * *

_District Seven could barely contain their obnoxious snickering. _From the very beginning, the Capitol had hated Seven, from its freezing, barren fields where nothing grew to its dirty gray shacks to its people's never-smiling faces. Why? Because Seven had nothing to offer. No natural resources, no extraordinary skills, no abundance of people. This District had to make its own economy. And its citizens did – they used their bottomless pit of malice, hate, and cruelty to fuel a fire of situational comedy. Not just any situational comedy, but the meanest kind.

People from Seven could turn anything into a laugh at another's expense.

Which was what they were doing to the naïve child calling herself a rebel and thinking she could possibly take over the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-destroying Capitol.

In your dreams, pipsqueak.

* * *

_District Eight was jubilant. _Boys grabbed their girlfriends and kissed them passionately. Fathers swung their children around and around in never-ending circles. Smiles the size of oceans stretched across the wrinkled faces of ancient ladies. Cheering louder than the take-off of a rocket could be heard for miles around.

This, the largest and poorest of the Districts, had nothing but towering factories; grimy, sooty air; tired, overworked, filthy people; failed rebellions; and an unquenched hatred for the Capitol with no easy way to quench it.

What Eight needed was a savior.

To them, that savior was Katniss Everdeen. The mockingjay.

* * *

_District Nine could no longer think for itself._ All the people of Nine longed for, hoped for, dreamed for, wished for, and aimed for could be contained in six simple words: to be honored by the Capitol. To earn the favor (and rewards) of the Capitol was simple: act like them and heed their every command. The problem with this was that Nine had been following their so-called genius plan so long and so well that these shallow-minded humans had no thoughts in their heads other than what the Capitol told them.

They had no idea what to think of these rebels – other than what the Capitol thought of them, and the Capitol hadn't said what it thought of them yet.

So, there was only one thing left to do: admire the rebels' "cuteness".

"Oh. Mi. Gawd. Did you see that guy playing bass? He was, like, soooo hot!"

"I liked the guy who sang. Strong and silent all the way!"

"Ew no. Bass guy. Totally."

"I call dibs on the girl who was singing! She, like, mesmerized me!"

"Not if I get there first!"

. . . and so on and so forth.

* * *

_The mouths of District Ten dropped open in unison with a loud snap._ Made up of cattle-, pig-, chicken-, and other livestock-raisers, Ten was far from having the highest IQ average of the Districts. These simple gatherers, living only to survive, worship their basic religion, and meet their yearly quota of goods had never even imagined anyone defying the Capitol. The idea of rebellion was totally foreign to them.

Witnessing Katniss and co.'s fiercely anarchist video was a rude awakening the likes of which had never before in the animal district.

Slowly, eyes returned to their normal size, mouths shut, and whispers, like snakes through grass, commenced.

This girl, this mockingjay, this rebel, this leader, this blaze of fire had shocked Ten.

Anyone who could do that, they figured, was worthy of their support.

* * *

_District Eleven was relieved._ Eleven harbored one of the greatest hatreds for the Capitol of all the Districts. "Peacekeeprs" had persecuted them, tortured them, and starved them, literally stealing the fruits of their labors. Farmers have to be patient, and after witnessing the girl who was on fire on her victory tour, Eleven had waited for her to make a move the way it waited for apples to ripen in the fall. When the Quarter Quell occurred, threatening Katniss's life, and the Capitol tightened its grip on the Districts, the would-be rebels of Eleven feared the leader they desperately needed might never start the revolution she promised when she held out the berries.

But now, she was acting.

And District Eleven, with its need for revenge that was a full cup ready to spill over, was going to help.

After all, she had helped them once. It was only fair.

* * *

_District Thirteen was annoyed._ The only TV in the District that hadn't been destroyed belonged by right to the mayor, but she had placed it in the public square, where the entire population of both Twelve and Thirteen watched in rapture. Members of Thirteen sighed and shook their heads while members of Twelve (the minority among their rescuers) cheered on the girl who had become their heroine.

"Go, Katniss, go!"

"Did she really have to antagonize the Capitol like that?"

"We're all gonna die because of her!"

"I don't wanna die!"

"Stop being such a pessimist! She had to do something to show them she's fighting!"

"WE'RE WITH YOU, MOCKINGJAY!"

The people of District Thirteen had harbored what was left of Twelve, and they were beginning to regret it. Sure, Katniss was smart, but she had nothing – no resources, no supplies, no army. It was Thirteen's job to do the fighting – they made the bombs, didn't they?

But would that girl listen when Thirteen sternly instructed her to stay quiet? No. Apparently not.

Someone is just asking for a lecture when she comes back . . . lucky for her, Thirteen had honor. They would still help.

* * *

_The Capitol was confused._ Instant messaging and texting had spread the news of the music video across the city until the entire Capitol had seen it – including those who'd rather they hadn't.

But almost nobody knew what it meant.

"did u c the vid?"

"ya who didn't?"

"it was prty"

"sweet dance mvz"

"but what was it talking about?"

"idk … u?"

"idk"

The majority of the Capitol had gone for such a lengthy amount of time without a proper education that they had forgotten what it was like to have one, and revolution, to them, mean Dance Dance Revolution – the ancient party game.

Most of them, anyway.

For, while the preponderance of the city lay in bafflement, a council was being help with all the most powerful people in Panem. A war council.

* * *

_The prisoner, with hallowed cheeks, tired eyes, and filthy blond hair, uttered a sigh that made his bones ache and echoed off the cold stones of his cell._

"Katniss . . ."

"She's going to get herself killed, you know," remarked a think, auburn-haired man from the next cell.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," protested the prisoner.

"You, my boy, are shut in a Capitol torture cave. You won't be saying much of anything," chuckled the man.

The prisoner clenched his bloodied fists, but the man wasn't done talking.

"I do have a plan, though." He proceeded to explain the escape plan.

"Cinna, you never cease to amaze me," Peeta Mellark muttered when he knew the entire plan.

A chocking laugh filled the prison cave.

The plan was in motion.

* * *

**So … love it? Hate it? Despise it with a burning passion? Whatever it is, TELL ME! The review page is lonely …**

**A note: this story is kind-of in honor of Mockinjay (which comes out in only 2 days! SQUEE!), though I wasn't planning for it to be when I started writing it. I've been writing this one-shot off and on for about 4 months now. O.o**

**Also, I think I should mention that this fic has been made 1000 times awesomer because I posted it while wearing a Hunger Games t-shirt. :D**

**- OwlinAMinor**

**(P.S. If anyone wants a translation of the text lingo in here, I'll put it in.)  
**


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